You obviously use the Internet, and since you are reading my Mac Tip of the Day, I would also assume that you are tech-savvy enough to be considered one of the millions of online shoppers. One thing that most online shoppers have in common is that after the purchasing process is done, you immediately will print a hard copy of your receipt to keep for your records. I'm a big fan of a paperless environment (as much as possible, of course), so this part of the process bugs me.

Everyone should know by now that Mac OS X has the ability to create PDF files built-in. This would be a great way to keep a digital archive of your receipts. Simply print the receipt as a PDF file, and save it for later. But Apple went one step further... they also help you to manage your receipts by storing them all in the same folder in one easy step! Here's how it works:

Once you are done with your purchase, and you have the confirmation on the screen, simply go to File | Print. At the dialog, click on the PDF button at the bottom, and choose "Save PDF to Receipts Folder". No need to confirm this action. Safari automatically converts your receipt into PDF format, and then saves it to a specific folder. Watch this example:

Now that you have saved your receipt as a PDF, you can locate it again by going to ~/Documents/Web Receipts. The file sizes are so small that you don't even really need to delete them after a period of time. Keep them forever, if you want. What a great way to digitally manage your receipts.